Posted by Joshua on Saturday, March 19th, 2011

Momentum is building for the opposition. The demonstrations are getting bigger with each day. They started out gathering between 100 to 300. Today’s demonstration was well over 1,000 in Deraa. The New York Times is reporting that 20,000 joined the funeral march in Deraa. The killing of four in Deraa is new. Many Syrians claim that this is the first time President Assad has drawn blood with the shooting of demonstrators. The Kurdish intifada of 2004 in the Jazeera ended with the death of many but that occurred following the successful constitutional referendum in Iraq and was blamed on external factors. To many Syrians, this time seems different.

It is unclear where this can lead as the opposition has no leadership and Syria has no organized parties. All the same, we are in a new era. If demonstrations grow to the point that security forces are overwhelmed, the situation could change rapidly. Not all regions or cities of Syria would behave the same. The top brass of the armed forces are unlikely to abandon the leadership as they did in Tunisia or Egypt; all the same, loyalties would be divided for many. The next few days will be telling. The Deraa demonstrations were sparked by the arrest of 15 children for scrawling anti-regime graffiti. It is quite possible that they government can yet regain control of the momentum and protest movement. Syria lacks an organized internal leadership that can plan and administer continued demonstrations. There is a sophisticated, even if small, leadership abroad which could coordinate events on Facebook from afar.

Dera’a Protesters calling for freedom – “Thousands of people attending the funerals of Akram al-Jawabra and Hussam Abdelwali Ayash were surrounded by large numbers of security men who fired tear gas at the mourners to disperse them”” the BBC and Reuters report.

(Reuters) – Thousands of mourners called on Saturday for “revolution” at the funeral of protesters killed by Syrian security forces, in the boldest challenge to Syria’s rulers since uprisings began sweeping the Arab world.

Security forces responded by firing tear gas to disperse crowds in Deraa, a region south of the capital where at least 10,000 people demonstrated on Saturday at the funeral of two protesters, among at least four who were killed on Friday.

“Revolution, revolution. Rise up Hauran,” chanted the mourners in Deraa, administrative capital of the Hauran plateau, as they marched behind the simple wooden coffins of Wissam Ayyash and Mahmoud al-Jawabra.

“God, Syria, Freedom. Whoever kills his own people is a traitor,” they said. Some of the mourners left a mosque and headed for the center to protest.

The two were killed when security forces opened fire on Friday on civilians taking part in a peaceful protest demanding political freedoms and an end to corruption in Syria, which has been ruled under emergency laws by President Bashar al-Assad’s Baath Party for nearly half a century.

A third man killed on Friday, Ayhem al-Hariri, was buried in a village near Deraa earlier on Saturday. A fourth protester, Adnan Akrad, died on Saturday from his wounds.

Deraa was less tense by late afternoon, with security forces using less force after a meeting at the main Omari mosque between the authorities and prominent figures in the city.

An activist who was at the meeting said officials were presented with a list of demands, most importantly for the release of political prisoners. Among them were 15 schoolchildren arrested in Deraa this month after writing slogans on walls, inspired by revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia that swept their autocratic leaders from power.

The list demands the dismantling of secret police headquarters in Deraa, dismissal of the governor, a public trial for those responsible for the killings, and scrapping of regulations requiring permission from the secret police to sell and buy property.

“If they do not respond the protests will only escalate,” the activist told Reuters.

An official statement said the interior ministry had formed a committee to investigate the “regrettable events” in Deraa.

The city is home to thousands of displaced people from eastern Syria, where up to a million people have left their homes because of a water crisis over the past six years. Experts say state mismanagement of resources has worsened the crisis.

The Hauran region, once a bread basket, has also been affected by diminishing water levels, with yields falling by a quarter in Deraa last year.

ARRESTS OF CHILDREN FUEL RESENTMENT

Protests against Syria’s ruling elite, inspired by revolts in the Arab world, have gathered momentum this week after a silent protest in Damascus by 150 people demanding the release of thousands of political prisoners…. In a move seen as an attempt to address the discontent, Assad issued a decree on Saturday shortening mandatory army conscription from 21 months to 18 months.

The long conscription period has generated discontent, especially among youth who resent state tactics to bring them into service, such as random ID checking, and the withholding of food aid from families whose members escape conscription.

Has the wave of popular revolts rocking the Arab world finally reached Syria, one of the region’s most policed states, a country its young president boasted was “immune” from calls for freedom, democracy and accountable government? Or were the …

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Comments (91)

Jihadsaid:

After Bahrein, Yemen and Libya, the Wahhabi-led Americain counter-attack is mounting. This does not mean that there are no legitimate demands in Syria for political and economic change.

Instead of waiting for months to see if the illiterate Saudi king will accept an offer to diffuse tensions in Lebanon, Bashar could have taken some meaningful steps inside Syria (and Lebanon) instead of spending time to pose for Vogue magazine.

Why Hama Massacre and Tudmur massacre can not be repeated!
1) the uprising is not in one city,only, it is in several cities in Syria
2)In 1982,there was no internet,mobile phone and facebook
3)The world will not allow an arabic dictator to kill his people and stay quiet,what we see in Libya is a lesson to learn from
4)the momentum is powerfull now.

Mr. Landis please be careful with what you write these days because what we are talking about here is the fate of a country, not a regime. The large demonstrations are still confined to Deraa, but not anywhere else. The people who demonstrated in Damascus and Banias were far less than a thousand people.

What happened in Deraa was largely related to the arrest of some Wahhabis a few weeks ago, and I won’t rule out some foreign involvement in what happened.

The Wahhabi strongholds in Syria are Hauran, the Euphrates basin, and the countryside near Homs. Aleppo, although much feared, is not a Wahhabi city. The picture is gloomy but there is still some light.

Another TRIBE is getting involve now (I honestly never heard of so many tribes in Syria until today) Alnaimi tribe, they are saying that they are more than 1million member in Syria, and they are giving the government another ultimatum or they will BURN everything and they are promised to get the help of their tribes in (Ajaman) UAE, Qatar and Saudi!!!! As if those guys know or have or understand democratic system in their countries! I don’t know how all those tribes will manage to make a modern democratic state out of threat like the one they just release?
I think we are back to 1820 now, tribes, shyoukh and horses….

Guys.. come on. I know that you are all distraught that the image of your beloved president and his wonderful regime is being shattering into a thousand pieces by the daily protests, but to blame the Wahabbis is really quite poor.

Be more original, like Gaddafi for instance, who came up with the hallucinogenic drug thing. Think more along those lines, at least people will give you credit for being creative.

Revlon,
You are kidding aren’t you , Bashar Assad does not represent himself, he represent the Baath party and the majority of the Syrian people, and to let a tribe threat the Syrian state with violence and run at the first sign of trouble is not feasible so brace your self for a confrontation , The Syrian army is entering Daraa with tanks ,

A major trouble in Syria will isolate Lebanon so no more transit through the Lebanese ports and no more transit from the EU and Turkey to the Gulf, in addition to what will happen on the Golan and will the border with Israel stay calm, Syria is very important
for her location ,
On the other hand i will give a way out and an evolution to open economy rule of laws and cancellation of emergency law and replace it with a national security law like the Patriot act ,

THER WILL BE NO POWER TAKEOVER BY THE OPPOSITION WITH FORCE, as i said previously, after what happened in Iraq to the Baath party and the Iraqi army there is no chance for the two to separate , they will fight to the end .

What is this “haqiqah” which has the sole objective of spreading rumors by stealing news from here and there and attributing them to their “sources?”

There are some exaggerations in the news about the so-called mass demonstrations in many Syrian cities. Many outlets are playing the same game that was played during what happened in Iran after the June 2009 elections.

On the other hand, I am not disputing the fact that president Bashar Assad is a dictator, regardless of the charm of the 1st lady. But from what we see since the last few days, the Wahhabis have decided to up the challenge and go on the attack and Barack Bushama is delighted. If you can’t see it, then it is not my problem.

KSA was playing for time after the defeat they were dealt in Lebanon and pretended that the back of the illiterate king warranted freezing talks with Bashar Assad. Instead of continuing the task in Beirut, they stopped under the banner of letting the negotiations take care of the deadlock.

How else can one explain the sudden appearance in Washington of Bandar Bin Sultan to the right of the illiterate king, while papers allied with Syria were printing silly news about the Saudi goodwill and the marginalization of Bandar.

JAD
Thank you for posting the link in #12 above. After looking at all the youtube clips, the facebook pages, reading all the rantings and ravings of the so called revolution enthusiasts, I was wondering when will we see or hear about what is really going on.
All of us who love Syria and feel offended when any harm threatens the Syrian people and Syria can sleep little better tonight after reading your post at #12 above. Thank you again and may God bless and protect Syria and the Syrian people.

Dear Montagnard
Yes that was a good piece of information however things are still bleak. I’m like many of us also very tired of being subject of too many media information attacks and in the absence of trustworthy sources from all sides about anything I’m trying to understand the real picture of what’s going on by linking all these info together where it make sense and to be honest, I’m finding myself leaning to believe more portion of the story from the local news and Aljazeera than any other sources (BBC, Alarabiya, Orient, France42 and Reuters) all of these are exaggerating and I personally don’t trust them.
The article raise a very important point though at the end; Where are all the government/regime principals/officials to talk to us instead of letting the majority of Syrians subject to such viscous cycle of information and rumors attacks. Why they are hiding and letting everything to stay vague, they should talk to the Syrians and to be honest with us.
Many major positive news must be given to the Syrians now if they want to defuse this tension, the attack this time is very serious and by many elements, it needs a wise and quick moves.
I second your call, God bless and protect Syria and the Syrian people.

Norman, That was a funny story 🙂 especially in this time of all the protests and revolution happening all over our area

Jihad,
You have a very interesting point about the American-KSA buying time for this exact moment to hurt the Syrian regime, not sure how much truth can be in that but it has high possibility.

Just to clarify something to the readers, those young men are Wahhabis from the Abazid family. They were arrested few days ago because they were writing anti-regime slogans on the walls in Deraa. Those people are from the dangerous Wahhabi type that agrees very much with Ali al-Ahmad ideas.

Large family clans are their big-city-prototype.
Extended 3ashaer and Qabael are larger, inter-related clans. Their largest concentrations are in the semi-desert and the inner planes around Daraa, Homs, Hama, and Aleppo.

The nature and speed of the regime’s actions until this upcoming Thursday, will dictate the rules of engagement, for the rest of this transitional period.

The regime is in a position to guarantee peaceful procession of change.
Immediate acknowledgement of the legitimacy of the demands of the revolution would serve to satisfy the peaceful majority.

On the contrary, engaging in longer confrontation, even for few more days would risk more blood-shed. Should this scenario happen, God forbids, the peaceful majority will be forced to retreat. The hard liners will take the helm and will have a stronger say in shaping the short-term future of the political landscape of Syria, at least for the next 5 years.

Whatever the outcome, There will be no turning back to the one party or military government.

The regime should understand that he people have been conceding for 40 years. It is time for it to wise up and give in.

An immediate and peaceful handing of power to an agreeable interim governing council would guarantee
Averting a potential internal Syrian rift.
The maintenance of the smooth administration of the country.
Time for national reconciliation and healing
Time for cool-headed building of the democratic future of Syria.

REVLON
You say in #19: “An immediate and peaceful handing of power to an agreeable interim governing council..”

Who are the council members that you have in mind? Do you expect us to say yes good idea REVLON, without you giving us some relevant details of a program that the future of the country will hang on it? Is this council going to include opposition figures like Khaddam, Rafaat Asad, Aamar Aabdul-Hamid, Farid Ghadry, MB leadership, the separatist kurdish activists, or do you have some inspiring enlightened people with good ideas that will work?
So far I have seen some young men shouting slogans captured on youtube and facebook clips, who could very well have legitimate grievances, but who I wouldn’t trust that they have what it takes to form that interim council you are calling for and assume the awesome responsibilities to lead and govern.
I am interested to hear you elaborate on your statement.

It was indeed a very sad story for Syria. Every revolution needs its martyrs and the heavy-handed security forces produced them yesterday. There is no doubt that this revolution is planned, financed, and agitated by Syria’s enemies in Jerusalem, Washington, Riyadh, Beirut, and God knows where. It is turning to a war of the information media and the Syrians are no match. The clumsiness of the Syrian media and the inexperience of the police will lose this battle for Syria.

When in February 18 the minister of interiors showed up at the demonstration, it was an extremely smart move. He was able to dampen the anger and bring the situation under control with minimal concession and to a happy ending. A similar approach should have been tried yesterday in Der’aa. The worst thing was applying excessive lethal force.

If I were Assad, I would have immediately appeared on TV, showed compassion, offered condolences, paid significant blood money Fidya, and offered to name streets in Der’aa after the martyred names. The usual reaction of every police force is applying force, imprisonment, and censure. This will have exactly the opposite result by amplifying the revolution.

Well well this is a very interesting group of posts that we are seeing here. I wonder whether I can guess the religious affiliation of the commentators by their posts?
Clearly those who think that the Baath party represents the majority of Syrians is as delusional as that guy who is living in his Zanga right now in Tripoli.
The Arab League decision is a cover for the intervention in Bahrain, no one gives a hoot in the Arab world what happens in the Zanga of the Leader in Tripoli. If we can get two birds with one stone Bahrain and Tripoli so be it.
Next as Attwan said in his editorial is a similar scenario that may befall the regime in Syria if it chooses to use excessive force. Israel and US and KSA are just waiting to pounce.

The one common thread in the discourse of those intoxicated by power is that they end up believing in the propaganda that they create and they become as we say in French ” grises par le pouvoir ” drunk with power. They do not even fathom what the concept of the rule of law means for they have so long identified with the law itself. They think that they and the state and the people and the laws and the institutions are one and the same thing and they cannot imagine that they are exactly like all those who just got toppled. It is instructive to watch the recreation of the last days of Hitler as he was ordering his generals to conduct assaults on the advancing Russians with fictitious armies that were present only in his imagination. I guess the same happens to those who are intoxicated with power.

Now I do believe that an abolition of the state of emergency is a saving step for the regime, after all the Syrian constitution was established by the late President. I did study the constitution at that time in a paper that compared it to the writings of John Locke as a college student. In this constitution the President is of course Muslim, the one concession the President made to the population but in it he is the head of the Executive Branch, the Head of the Armed forces, he proposes legislation and the Parliament approves or disapproves but does not legislate and he can dissolve it at any time. To top it he is the Head of the supreme court and the judiciary and he establishes the various types of courts be they for state security or otherwise. The political parties are assembled under the rule of the one party and the power is diffused to the professional associations all of which are members of the one party as well. So if the current President were to abolish the state of emergency and then proceed to ask for full implementation of the constitution then he will be safe and secure with full protection.

Now for some time we have been lying to each other all along for this is the truth :we are a very sectarian country; where the recent visit to Soueida speaks volumes about the rapprochement between the D and the A sects and soon the I sect will be brought in, as for the C sect they are always behind a facade of secularism for it emasculates the S majority sect.

Now some on this post are already branding the protesters as W fanatics. Well this is my point exactly in that if the regime does not allow for any room for debate and for the formation of genuine political parties and for the rule of law to be applied to all, it is exactly those disaffected and crushed by the weight of a corrupt parasitic regime that will become fanatics. After all the A and D sects evolved from severe and crushing oppression by the rulers of the time in the 12th and 19th centuries. They evolved into bizarre ideoloies that glorifies victimhood and therefore permits all kinds of dehumanizing the other just as the takfiris do these days.

The fanatics were not created by the US they were born and bred in the torture chambers of those intoxicated with power and nourished with a sick sense of eternal victimhood.

The articles andthe comments posted reminded of Al-Sahaf (the Ex-minister of Information at the last days of Saddam’s regime!) Would you please at least be original! The facts are clear: people wants freedom, stop corruption, jobs and share of the wealth instead of handfull of people who are controlling the economy! May be they will not be successful and achieve their goal in months or years but let be honest it will happen soon!

Yes, a lot of them forgot about Hama massacre or never heard of it due to the cntrol of media but let’s be clear, the Asad regime will not get away of killing innocent people!

#20. MONTAGNARD
Dear Montagnard,
Thank you for your pertinent question.
I have already described the nature of such interim council. It was written in my earlier comment #82 in Syriacomment post prior to the current one. I am sorry if you did not have a chance to read it.
Here is the conclusion of the mentioned post:

My suggestion to Asad jr. for a plan B out:
Act now, before anymore bloodshed.
Declare intention to step down.
Negotiate a truce with the revolutionists in Daraa.
Hand over complete powers to an interim governing council within 1 week.
This council would have representatives from the Declaration of Damascus, the revolution, and selected members of the current regime acceptable to the other two groups.
Peace

Here is my take on the issue:
Choices are communicated to average Americans by a monopoly of media.
They are for profit, information-marketing mega-businesses.
Their product is the advancement of a certain view point and the suppression of rival’s.
Their clients are the powerful American lobbies. Their moto is: The higher you pay the louder you will be heard.

Arab countries, have been fortunate not to be plagued by such monopoly.
Al Jazeera, succeded to an admirable extent in overcoming the pathetic and lame government media.

Just think of this:
First, What would happen should Al Jazeera “English” as it stands now, were to be cable-networked on a large scale in the US?
Second, What would happen to the post-revolution Arab democracy should corporate American/international media businesses buy out local Arab ones? Writers of the new constitutions, I am certain, are mindful of the risks.

DAMASCUS, Mar 19, 2011 (AFP) – A group of 10 women activists detained by Syrian authorities in a protest earlier this week have launched a hunger strike, rights groups said Saturday.

“All women jailed after the peaceful protest Wednesday outside the interior ministry have begun an open-ended hunger strike in the Duma detention centre for women,” said the Syrian League for Human Rights, an umbrella group of several rights monitors.

Small protests have erupted since March 15 in the Old City of Damascus, demanding the release of political prisoners and reforms in the country, amid a wave of popular uprisings across the Middle East.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said authorities on Thursday charged 32 activists detained during Wednesday’s rally with attacking the reputation of the state. Human Rights Watch confirmed the detention of 18 activists in Wednesday’s rally.

Facebook group The Syrian Revolution 2011, one of the motors behind an unprecedented string of protests in Syria, called for Saturday protests in Homs, revealing the protest’s venue despite the tight control kept by the country’s security services.

The fresh call for protests came a day after rights groups reported that security forces killed four people and wounded hundreds in a rally in the southern city of Daraa.

Demonstrations on Friday marking a “Day of Dignity” were also reported in the coastal town of Banias and in Homs.

In Damascus, AFP reporters saw plain-clothes police dragging away at least two activists who had apparently begun to chant “freedom” after prayer at the main mosque.

GK “but let’s be clear, the Asad regime will not get away of killing innocent people!”

Mr. Lebanese “selective attention” … 250,000 Lebanese killed mostly on orders of Lebanese warlords who are still idolized by every other Lebanese today (30 years later!)

You also obviously refuse to read that the President apologized and will send a minister to meet the parents and an investigation will take place and those who made mistakes will be tried and punished …

Can you predict the same for the Bahraini regime? .. the Saudi regime?

Norman above posted a link where peaceful demonstrators in the US were arrested…

Or these? … did anyone in the US administration need to resign as a result?

“………..Syria lacks an organized internal leadership that can plan and administer continued demonstrations. There is a sophisticated, even if small, leadership abroad which could coordinate events on Facebook from afar……”

SNP have working plans and can put few hundred thousand on the streets with special media and technology available to it. We are just not sold that this is the way to bring about change in Syria. That is just affirmed by the recent revolutionary failure in other countries, most importantly, the hijacking of such by foreign interests. We believe that President Assad is genuinely good person, well brought up, a proud Syrian who was/ or is now well trained for the job and he does have a good idea of what is modern country needs. He was not given a fair chance in the past decade to bring about necessary changes. The event of 911, invasion of Iraq, Lebanon and the ongoing Tribunal that leveled accusations on Syria all restricted Bashar and derailed him from what he started to do when he took office. His hand was weakened further as he was always over-ruled by security team and he has nothing to alleviate their fears.

Why not Syrians first do what SNP been doing, bring grievances and demand directly to the President, instead of barking in the street. Demand meeting hall at some university and get into question and answer sessions, make demand to him in person. Try this route first. We believe demos in the streets, graffiti, bearded men calling name and sectarianism will only bring fear and repression, no resolution. At best silly dog tricks from the Baathist regime to calm the citizenry or buy their quietness.

President Assad should personally be responsible to keep Syria intact. Violence against demonstrator will end up bringing Syria under occupation by foreign troops. Don’t fall for the plots. This is not the time to play Brezhnev and Proletariats with KGB arms. Change must come, it is inevitable.

Look, let’s talk frankly and be honest. Syria is a basket case, on all levels, no exception. Baathist policies and corruption has brought down to the lowest ranking on almost everything measured by those who conduct annual survey. Why anyone would need this unworthy job of having to pick the Baathist poo poo and spend years doing it. All while, Baathist hoarded all the wealth and cash, living on Lake Geneva, London or Toronto, and the cleanup crew will have to deal with the daily demos. Because that is what is going too happened daily when Baathist leaves, the cleanup crew is one that will hear it and even be blamed for all the crap because people memory is about 3 days long.

That was run off the top of my head, go ahead and discuss this on this comment section. Otherwise, feel free to listen to the bearded ones and Baathist Khaddam to bring you free Syria, under French occupation that is.

#20. MONTAGNARD
Dear Montagnard,
Disclaimer,
I am non-partisan Syrian. I have no vested past, present or future interest in being a part of the political future of Syria. I am very good at what I do now. I live a decent life and wish to see a better future for all Syrians.

I have no personal knowledge or relationship with any of the members of the Group of the Declaration of Damascus, the ground or virtual revolutionists, or the regime.

My knowledge of the Group is sketchy, and probably outdated.
I believe their profile makes them very fitting to be acceptable and trusted moderators in such council
They have the maturity of age, the moderation of enlightenment, the balance of social representation, past experience with government mentality, full awareness of the grievances of the masses, and motivation to help build democracy in Syria.

I am very interested to hear your, and everyone’s response to the suggestion. I would like to invite all of you to think of workable options for a peaceful way out for all Syrians.

# 30
SNP
I am glad you have thought of the option of a direct dialogue with thye president.
My say is this: if the president still does not know what this uprising is all about, this would underline the well known futility of the system. If he does, all he needs to do is acknowledge that and move on with solutions. My own feeling, is that it would be too little too late , should he stays in power.

We will let you keep on guessing the religious affiliations of the participants. It is like those Lebanese who resort to the same tactic: ah, you say this because you are that!

To use the logic behind your casual observations, are you suggesting for example that the murderers the Maronite community produced in Lebanon “evolved from severe and crushing oppression by the rulers” of the Byzantine Empire, and thus created “twisted ideologies.” I think those murderers are actually closer to Hitler than, as you seem to suggest, Bashar Assad.

If you read well the posts, we are not branding the protestors in Syria as Wahhabis. I personally said that the Wahhabis in KSA are on the attack from Bahrain, to Yemen… to Libya. And we acknowledged that the Syrian people have legitimate demands.

Finally, I do believe that the only way to reclaim the Arab world is by destroying the Wahhabi regime in the Arabian Peninsula. Its Zionist ally will falter next. The big mistake Gamal Abdul Nasser made is by fighting KSA in proxy wars, like that in Yemen, instead of taking the Wahhabi regime head on.

I’d like to add the fact that under the 1973 Syrian Constitution Article 111, the President has the power to legislate. It’s a sad but true fact that the president of Syria, a republic, holds more power than some of the monarchs in the Gulf States.

Article 111* [Assuming Legislative Authority]
(1) The President of the Republic assumes legislative authority when the People’s Assembly is not in session, provided that all the legislation issued by him is referred to the People’s Assembly in its first session.
(2) The President of the Republic can assume legislative authority even when the Assembly is in session if it is extremely necessary in order to safeguard the country’s national interests or the requirements of national security, provided that the legislation issued by him is referred to the People’s Assembly in its first session.
(3) The People’s Assembly can abolish or amend the legislation as provided for in Paragraph (1) and (2), or by law by a two-thirds majority of the members attending the session, provided their number is not less than the Assembly’s absolute majority and provided that the amendment or abolition does not have a retroactive effect. If the Assembly does not abolish or amend this legislation, then it is considered legally approved and there will be no need for a vote on it.
(4) The President of the Republic assumes legislative authority in the interim period between two assemblies. Legislation issued by the President during this period is not referred to the People’s Assembly. Its validity as regards amendments or abrogation are the same as with existing laws.

It is well-knwon that the former Lebanese Rafiq Hariri, a certified 5-Star Wahhabi, was conspiring with Abdel Halim Khaddam, Ghazi Kanaan and Hikmat Shahabi, to topple the regime in Syria. So, Wahhabi plans against Syria are not new. No one in his right mind thinks that the Wahhabis in the Gulf have the interests of the Syrian people, or those of other Arabs, in their hearts.

You should mention who’s the owner of Alwatan news paper, it’s not an exactly objective source for such news.

“give us one country you know in the Arab world with tribes and have true democracy.”

give us one country you know in the Arab world have true democracy. would be a better question don’t you think ?

As for the tribe ultimatum, first for all we know it could be fake just like the one before it, second you should read it again, they didn’t threaten to burn everything, they said they’re insisting on the peaceful nature of their movement however should the Syrian regime insist on using weapons against them, they do have the weapons to retaliate and burn everything. So it’s really a threat to the regime not to use violence, and I would agree 4 dead is enough.
Again, we’ve seen many “documents” on that Facebook page and almost every single one of them turned out being fake.

Jihad is correct, the Saudi Wahhabis are the source of major evil in the Arab and Muslim world. As a Muslim Sunni myself, I see them as THE major threat to my faith and the faiths that constitute the beautiful and unique fabric of Syria. They are a constant threat to anything liberal and progressive.

It’s the duty of every Muslim to push back this dangerous strain of Islamic racism that can be traced back to the 12th century’s Ibn Taymmiyah.

The problems in Syria are fundamentally economical ones as poor and ignorant policies for the past half a century have finally produced a critical mass of discontent that is manifesting itself in all sorts of grievances.

Too bad for the Syrian government as there are no viable solutions that exist today for solving these severe problems. These solutions should have been formulated 20 years ago to solve today’s chocking problems.

Even if the demonstrators change the entire face of the government today, and top experts, politicians, and Nobel Peace Laurates have been elected to run all branches of Syrian government, the economic problems will persist and people will be looking for non existent jobs.

Many fall for the claim that if we were to eliminate corruption, Makhloof, and the constant illegal smuggling Syria will fine. While eliminating corruption is a top priority, let’s not forget that the Syrian per capita income is still well below the threshold of producing any viable liberal society.

We need real annual economical growth in Syria of well above the 10% mark to be able to consume these restless youths that are causing high pressure across the entire spectrum on the Syrian society. And it is impossible to produce such a stellar growth when Turkey is to the North and the rich Gulf is to the south. In fact, and sorry for the pessimism, no solution exists.

I solely blame the Ba’ath and their ill-devised policies – especially their vindictive social and economical policies for producing a Syria, 50 years later, that is poor, backward, and incapable of competing in a highly competitive world market today.

I have to give them credit, however, for trying to build a secular society and empowering the religious minorities of Syria. No one can take that good deed from them. But now it is time for them to go and go away for good.

No political party should remain in power for so long and after such colossal failures.

What will happen next is controlled by the laws of randomness and unpredictabilities.

I solely blame the Ba’ath and their ill-devised policies – especially their vindictive social and economical policies for producing a Syria, 50 years later, that is poor, backward, and incapable of competing in a highly competitive world market today.

I have to give them credit, however, for trying to build a secular society and empowering the religious minorities of Syria. No one can take that good deed from them. But now it is time for them to go and go away for good.

No political party should remain in power for so long and after such colossal failures.

Scenarios for the Post-holiday Scene
The government has given Sunday Plus Monday’s Mother Day off in Syria. Such re-emphasizes their awareness of the presence of an impasse. Additional 24 hour of time will certainly help in producing a plan B exit: Plan A of confrontation has backfired.

Movements of Government and opposition representatives on the ground over the next two days shall indicate the direction of the process. I can envisage four possible case scenarios:

First, nothing new on the ground: Such means the regime has no plan-B, is buying time, and counting on the revolution loosing steam and/or interest. This option shall only serve to deepen the impasse. The inner circuit of the president would favour this option. It is the least damaging to their view of system credibility.

Second, representatives of the regime and ground “Opposition” / Revolutionists / Activists having rounds of discussion. I see this scenario less likely at this stage.

Third, the government announces limited concessions, including selective release of political prisoners, including the lately arrested activists and perfunctory punishment of Daraa murderers. By such, the government would be hoping to change the current mode of engagement from confrontation to negotiation. The last 24 hr government handling of the situation is congruent with this line of thinking.

The problem however might escalate sooner than any one would wish.
The conciliatory, apologetic response of the government to the terse tribal ultimatum has sent an unintended signal to a highly attentive public, across Syria.
The image of awesome authority that the system and its security forces invoke in the public minds has been shattered.
People would now be eager than ever to take to the streets and inflict more humiliation on its diminishing foe.

There are talks of opposition but what opposition? The opposition I know of are at war with each other more than with anyone or anything else.

What happened in Damascus last Tuesday and Wednesday was and remains separate from what took place on Friday. The Tues. and Wed. events were instigated by HR people who have had long-time issues with the authorities. This was a ‘genuine’ rights issue.

What happened in the south and on the coast were also separate from each other (the south because of boys beaten up for writing graffiti complaining against rising prices, the coast because of the closure of an Islamic school). This was a ‘general concern of the people’ issue and will have much more legs and appeal than the former above.

It is being reported internationally as being one unified event, if I can say that, which is reductive and perhaps even dangerous.

Is there some sort of link in terms of a general unhappiness with the authorities? Probably. Does it justify wholescale change? Most probably not.

I think, though the daily situation is very difficult for many Syrians, (some) people need to be careful in what exactly it is they are calling for. They need to think through and understand what they want as much as they want to be understood themselves.

Word is that Rustum Ghazali is sent to calm things down. I have a feeling this current uprising, whoever is behind it, WILL end soon but obviously it will have a huge positive impact on the Syrian psyche.

This should remind us that, not only we have the right, but also the duty to formulate a civil society and to build a national identity. Better late than never.

It looks like the Syrian Asad regime has run out of ideas to improve the welfare of its people: freedom of speech, employment, no corruption! Isn’t time to have an election and see what the people want? Enough of giving excuses and accusing outsiders! Are you saying that the proud Syrian people are not smart enough to know what do they want or are dumb to be guided by outsiders? Learn from recent history! The people had enough of the same faces (41 years of rule by Asad family), corruption by Makhloufs, lack of freedom and police control of every aspect of life in Syria!

Dear Ford,
Ibn Taymiyya died in the 14th century ,and he is among the greatest and original thinkers in Islam and was incredibly prolific,his extremist views must be put into his time context ,the danger is to isolate them from this context during which the islamic civilization was under attack from all parts.
And it’s true ,that since the begining of the 20 th century ,his criticizm towards charlatism and superstition has been taken into account by muslim intellectuals from the Sufi trend.(as this synthesis noticed by the great syrian researcher of Ibn Arabi, Yahya Osman in his introduction of his study of Ibn Arabi’s manuscripts,written in the 50’s-60’s ,Ibn Taymiyya is the authority in al Shari3a and Ibn Arabi represented al Haqiqa)
It must be known ,that the Ottomans promoted Ibn Arabi and Ibn Taymiyya was targeted by an anathema and the proponents of Shaykh al Islam were one several occassions put to death by the Ottomans(Sheikh Al Falujji).
Since some decades Salafism is on the rise but it should be considered mostly as a movement of rationalization of islamic traditional beliefs and not mixed with the marginals the alike of Bin Laden and Zawahiri ,those were badly influenced by the ideas of Qotb and Abu Alaa Al Mawtudi and have been infiltrated by several security apparatuses in order to be instrumentalized ,in the begining by the americans ,pakistanis and saudis and today by the israelis ,iranians and syrians.

“I’d like to add the fact that under the 1973 Syrian Constitution Article 111, the President has the power to legislate. It’s a sad but true fact that the president of Syria, a republic, holds more power than some of the monarchs in the Gulf States.”

The power given to the president in article 111 is analogous to that of the US present. The problem is the election law that guarantees a rubber stamp parliament.

Furthermore, Bashar is not Hafez. They share only the name, and Hama is 30 years in the past. So the argument of 40 years of the same regime is invalid.

Bashar is not a dictator. He has not been to the army and not even an alpha type. The real power is with the corrupt oligarchs, the Mafiosi old guard in the army and the party. He is limited in how much to oppose them before they remove him. He often complains that many of his directives are simply ignored.

Bashar proved to be a very astute and good politician, and his government is excellent. I am convinced that he could be a great reformer if he is empowered.

If this revolution succeeds, it can only destroy Syria. No democracy can come out of it. Syria becomes a second Lebanon taking order from Washington, Jerusalem and Riyadh. We might also kiss goodbye to the Jolan, and to any opposition to Israel. The Zionists and neocons would have achieved a complete victory.

Dear GK,as we all know,the Asads are even more corrupts than the Makhloufs because in addition, they protect the corruption of their big fishes.
Any credible anti-corruption policy must reach the head of the system,the big monsters before the small parasites.

JIHAD — “What is this “haqiqah” which has the sole objective of spreading rumors by stealing news from here and there and attributing them to their “sources?””

It’s a group created by Nizar Nayouf, former prisoner in Mezzeh, now living in France. He used to be a leader of the Lijan al-difaa an al-hurriyat al-dimouqratiya wa huqouq al-insan fi Souriya (CDF), but I don’t think there’s a relation anymore.

They’ve published a lot of strange stories over the years (“evidence” that Saddam brought his nuclear weapons to Syria and so on). I would advise reading it with a healthy dose of skepticism.

The pathetic Amr Moussa, the so-called secretaty general of the Arab League and expcted Presidential candidate in Egypt, who should have received hundreds of shoes on his head during his recent meeting with a group of Egyptian students, said after legitimizing Western neo-colonialism:

عمرو موسى: ما يجري في ليبيا يختلف عن الحظر الذي طلبناه.

Even more pathetic was the declaration made by Syrian Foreign Minister, Walid Al-Mu’alem, regarding the killings in Bahrain. Cozying up to the illiterate Wahhabis in the Occupied Arabian Peninsula will not do you or Syria any good. He thinks that he is being smart by playing with words. It is like playing with fire. Does he really think that Syria’s enemies will look the other way if the security apparatus is ordered to do what the Wahhabis and their allies are doing to the people of Bahrain?

I would love Syria to have the American system of government as i see that the only way to have democratic reform in Syria, we saw representative democracy in Iraq, people in that System tend to vote for the religion or the ethnicity of their representatives, instead of voting for the man from their neighborhood that they know and like, Syria like the US has many kinds of people and our system of government in the US is the right one for Syria, The US can help, if it wants, have districts of about 100,000 people of mixed people to elect a representative and have 2 senators from each County (( Muhafaza )) to protect the rights of the population of the small counties ,

Free movement and anti discrimination laws, as in the US, in housing and employment and voting where people live not where they come from is essential I still vote in Hama, where i have not been in any significant part of my life, The Syrian system of voting where you come from is tribal and meant to divide Syria into tribes and regions instead of a state for all.

Jihad ,it’s not nice to attack a whole people as you are doing.
The Saudis,Wahhabies and non Wahhabies are our eternal brothers ,regardless of the nature of the regimes they and we have.

And instead of vomitting your hatred ,i invite you to check the evolution of the HDI indicator of these countries and tp compare it with the syrian HDI.
The best weapon against extremism is liberal education ,and such education is dominant in the Gulf.The conservative Wahhabies will become marginalized in few decades because a growing part of the Saudi society evolve towards modernity and reason.
In Syria ,they imposed on us the opposite direction,after decades of decline we are now surprised by supra natural slogans around the person of the dictator ,that are external to the Syrian culture.

GK #43
I am tired of listening to your insults to the Syrian people. If you have a good idea say it without your condescending attitude and tone. You are damned right the Syrian people are smart enough to know what they want and they don’t need your sarcastic mocking lecturing comments. Your methods of discourse might go well within some of your Lebanese sociopathic circles, but certainly not amongst us Syrians.

When you say: “Are you saying the proud Syrian people are not smart enough to know what they want or are dumb to be guided by outsiders?”

Are you really asking me this question you dumb Lebanese?
How do you feel now? Are you insulted? Have I made my point?
I hope that you are smart enough to get my point and maybe you can contribute in a positive manner.

Ziad you said:The real power is with the corrupt oligarchs, the Mafiosi old guard in the army and the party

Do you have any name ? and are those you meant ,part of the inner circle of Bashar ,family members ?old guard ,what about Maher,Bashar,Rami,Asif,Bushra …. ???
Do you still drink the mukhabarati slogan that goes back to Hafez,he is good and the people around him are not ?
Is that possible ?

What SHAMI #55 says is what Bashar says Syria needs. We need to reform education. The funny thing is the Islamists will agree that democracy won’t work now in Saudi Arabia, but still they want to implement it in Syria!

If we do what NORMAN said in #52, the result will be that the first elected congress will decide to implement Sharia (or change the laws to others heavily influenced by Sharia), which means the end of democracy before it starts. Much worse than that, Sharia will mean the end of the Syrian national identity and we will be back to the age of sects, when every person identified by his religion rather by his country.

Religious discrimination will be institutionalized, and we will be back to the Ottoman millet system. There will be no human rights, no freedom of speech, and the worse than all is that there will be no hope in sight for change.

Syria under the Baath moved a good deal towards becoming a national state. Most Syrians now (inside Syria but not outside it) have some sort of national identity. If we apply ‘democracy’ in Syria now, this national identity will smash completely into pieces. Syria will be thrown 100 years back.

Montagnard,
GK, has nothing to say but what you read from him, do you think any of these people care of the welfare of Syrians and they truly support the Syrian advancement and progress? They don’t, what they care about is to see Syria suffer what they did before and become another failure country like theirs and this is why you see these attacks.
Even with all these protests, it’s very obvious by now that those who are behind it are not looking for any conversation or solution they are looking for confrontation otherwise how do you explain that even when the government are doing them exactly what they are asking for they are still calling for more attacks and more violence, I can’t find any other explanation. They are not interested in any grapes, they just want to kill al natour and destroy the field..

I like Bashar, and his government. I agree with their approach to the economy and foreign policy. Like you, I hate the corruption and the slow pace of reform.

This revolution is being planned, financed and orchestrated by people who wish ill to the Syrian people. If it manages to unsettle a little the corrupt Mafiosi, and speeds up the pace of reform then I feel happy, but I do not wish it to topple Bashar’s government.

The Wahhabis in the Occupied Arabian Peninsula refer to the ugly regimes in Riyad and its satellites in Bahrain and UAE. We can also add those in Al-Jazeera (also known as the State of Qatar).

As for the Human Development Index, sure when you are able to spend overnight more than 100 billion USD on “housing, education and health projects” (regardless of their long term or real impact on people’s lives, because a lot of those billions will get embezzled by illiterate Wahhabi princes. Do you also count that each year in Jadda, the second biggest city in the Wahhabi kingdom, dozens go dead and missing and thousands flee their houses because there is no sewage system. And this is a city called “The Pearl of the Red Sea.” What a smelly pearl indeed!), like the illiterate Wahhabi king said he will do, KSA place on the HDI will balloon. I bet that in 2011, its HDI will surpass that of Norway and Canada!

My congragulations on such “brothers” who never stopped funding American and Wahhabi terrorism all over the world and who stopped at nothing to stiffle the emergence of a vigorous and independent Arab world.

ALEX. Calling Eretz Israel the most dangerous country in the ME is not quite fair. It has been on the road to peace for over 50 years.

The facts that it is the only country that occupies land by conquest (Golan) indiscriminately bombs Palestenians in an open air gulag; boards “peace” ships 200 miles way from its coast line and daily violates the air space of a neighboring country are acts conducive to the “peace process” between all its neighbors.

You and others ALEX would be surprised to read that oher nations have acted silly in the past. Here is a case in point that can be easily Googled.

“On 18 July 1290 every professing Jew in England was ordered out of the Realm, for ever, by King Edward I. Between sixteen and seventeen thousand Jews had to flee, and none dared return until four hundred years later .”

The Edict of Expulsion of 1290

A catalogue of recorded history surrounding Jewry under Angevin Kings of England, leading up to the Edict of Expulsion by King Edward I

You’re so afraid of Islamists and Sharia law, you can’t see that Islamists have been WINNING the battle on the streets for the past 50 years.

Back in the 60s and 70s, you could barely see any women with head scarves at Syrian universities, you used to see women with short skirts on the streets, you could even see kisses in those old black&white movies. Now 50 years later, you can count women without scarves (most if not all of them are Christians) on your finger tips, a girl wearing a skirt showing any skin would be labeled a whore, and god forbid an actor touches an actress in most of your TV series.

Your so loved regime, with it’s emergency law, enforced police state and fighting of any/all western influences effectively crushed the Syrian liberal society, and silenced the secular majority who no longer have any means to promote their progressive ideas while creating a perfect atmosphere for conservatives to work in the shade.
I mean God forbid we have any “Evil” American influence in Syria, they’re only better than us in … pfft … everything. Education: better, Human rights: better, Women rights: better, Science: better, Economy: better, (…fill the blank…): better.

The regime have been trying to promote secularism for how long now ? IT’S NOT WORKING!!!. Please stop deluding yourself into thinking 40 more years of the same will produce better results, if anything it’ll turn Syria into another Afghanistan.

In 2000, Syria witnessed something called, Damascus spring, nobody went into the streets and started killed minorities left and right, no, people started gathering in forums and discussing different ideas peacefully, and what did Bashar do ? yup, the same old tactic (Nip it in the bud).

Anyways, why don’t the president call for a constitutional assembly, have them draft a true democratic/secular constitution under the watchful eye of the “reforming” and “secular” regime ? oh sorry I forgot, we have to wait for the next generation.

Ziad ,so if most of syrian people think like you,why do you fear democracy ?.
And btw ,about the foreign policy,did you hear about the likudist Jack Avital visit prior 2005,the AIPAC members regular visits to the dictator’s palace?
What is the aim of such meetings?
On the ground ,i dont think that the israelis are unhappy with decades of bankruptcy and weak human developpment and mass humiliation of Syrians by sectcorrupt security apparatuses.
The israelis i’m sure like such slogan addict dictatorial and totalitarian regimes,in which the dictaror is magnified day and night when the people is weakened.
Jihad ,you should take a look to the number of scientific publications that the Saudi universities produce,they are in the top at the regional level which gives them a relative good ranking at the asian level.http://www.4icu.org/topAsia/
And here it’s not a soviet style exhibition,the modernization of the Saudi Society during these last decades is impressive on the ground.The conservative wahhabies will have to adapt themselves to the new social realities or they will be marginalized for good and the pressure for a parliemantary monarchy will increase.
On the contrary ,in Syria,we took the opposite direction when the regimes adopted the soviet style propaganda machine which is disconnected with the overall reality ,the result is that,the liberal trend has been badly altered in Syria by this regime.
Jad,dont underestimate the intelligence of the Syrian beduins and their capacity and readiness to reach an highly civilized status as they reached during the Umayyad empire and prior Islam,Those in Howran gave an Emperor to Rome ,and the eastern Beduins gave Zenobia.(this extraordinary capacity has not been hidden by an anti-islam orientalist ,Henri Lammens).
This youth is the future we have to build modern Syria with it,Asad regime is a black page in Syrian history.
Norman,
You are aware that an uprising could happen in all parts of Syria ,not only in Deraa,Banias and Deir Zor.
Bashar and alikes are those who share similar syndroms of the sectarian people in Iraq and Lebanon,fortunately for Syria and the Arab World,such sectarian paranoid people are a small minority in Syria as they are a minority in the Arab and Islamic worlds , the political competition in Syria and most countries in the Arab world will be of political nature and not religious,ethnical or sectarian.

The Assad regime has spent years isolating itself from the rest of the countries in the region proclaiming it represents the will of the people. Now it desperately needs the assistance of countries like Jordan and Saudi Arabia to help appease its Sunni tribes. Yet it has terrible relations with them and there is no hope they would expend political capitol for the Baathists who so openly mocked them in the past.

Moreover it’s support for Iran and Hezbollah has come at the expense of Damascus being viewed as a pariah state in the eyes of the West. If it were to take harsh actions against the protestors the countries of Europe would punish it like they have Libya rather than tolerate it like Bahrain.

Finally the only relations Bashar has cultivated during his reign, Iran and Hezbollah, are of no use to it in this crisis. Indeed the Shia influence can actually be viewed as a detriment. Can you imagine what would happen if Iranian or Hezbollah Shia fighters were to come into the country to crush the demonstrators?

The most glaring thing about the above is that Assad has openly gloated as he has further isolated himself and the regime. Can anyone remember how he went over the top with Ahmadinejad last year? How about the “monkey” insult he made to the Saudis? WHat did any of those public statements do for him? Maybe he should have tried to emulate his father more reserved foreign policy. Hafez Assad, now there was a leader! Reserved, calculated and thoughtful. He was always careful to not insult or isolate anyone, let alone appear on the cover of Vogue for a lifestyle of the rich article while his fellow Syrians can barely survive.

Don’t you think that the people want freedom and end of corruption not fidya money!

Don’t you think that the people like to exercise their rights and vote in an election! Look at the Egyptian yesterday, more than 80% of them went and voted on the changes for the constitution. I think it is time for the Syrians to enjoy the freedom to vote!!!

Whoever blame the outsiders don’t know the real Syrian society! The children of the people who resisted the French and fought to liberate their occupied territory (Golan) will not take it anymore and demand FREEDOM. The people want freedom! The current regime did nothing to liberate Golan and did nothing to stop the corruption and did nothing to allow more freedom! Time for him to go!!! Let him go and join kaddafi, Ben Ali or even Mubarak.

Souri,Shami,
Souri,
I do not think that if the system i put up takes place that Sharia law will be the law of the land, Let us ask shami,

Shami,

If the president calls for a new constitution that can be representatives to all Syrian and that is a SECULAR CNSTITUTION , Like the one in the US, I don’t even mind if they copy the American constitution,(( everybody of all religions want to come to the US)), that protect minority and small states rights, a Republic not a Democracy, that is what we have in the US ,

Bashar said Syria is immune to what happened in Tunis,He was talking to WallStreet Journalist,Does anyone agree with his statement anymore?Obviously his assesment was wrong.
For those who like Bashar and blame the Oligach arround him,if he can not overrule the security forces,for 11 years ,then he is impotant,and very weak,for that I think he must resign immidiately

Now that there are martyrs,it is sure the anger will snowball.
As Jashua said, things will get worse if the security forces can no longer control the angry demonstrators.The syrian army can not start killing people.
I think Bashar must appear on TV ,talk to the people,or talk to the crowd directly, he must release all political prisoners ,NOW .he must change the goverment,and put someone from the opposition to rule,and get rid of Rami Makhloof,abolish emergency law,if he does not then there will be another friday.
LATA SA3TA MANDAME.

WD,
I agree, I didn’t read this news anywhere, where did Dr. landis get this news from?
This one is also strange one line of news to put:
‘Alawis are changing their profile photos on Facebook to Bashar’s.’

Ziad,this dualistic approach towards these regimes is common (Syria ,Libya and Iran)
go also understand how Haliburton was doing business in Iran despite sanctions or how Israel supported with weapons the theocracy in Iran.

Are you seriously comparing Article 111 of the Syrian constitution to the American constitution and saying this article is found there? Article 111 grants the President of Syria the power to fully legislate whether parliament is in session or not. Where in the US constitution is the president given power to legislate? I said that the president in Syria holds more power under the constitution than some monarchs in the Gulf States because in Kuwait for example, the Emir does not have the power to legislate, at least not when parliament is in session. There was also a time in Kuwait when the parliament opposed a bill by the Emir, and the Emir had to wait 4 more years until a new parliament was in place to pass the bill. I am in no favor of monarchy, but what we have in Syria is a hereditary presidential dictatorship.

Furthermore, you said that Bashar is not Hafez, that he is not a dictator, that he’s good but the corrupt people around him are the bad ones, and so forth. For the dictator argument, any person who becomes a president under this constitution would be a dictator per se, unless they amend the article that grant him absolute powers. Bashar was not elected to power, he has taken the position given who his father was. He never proposed amending the constitution and it’s highly unlikely he does so anytime soon. Instead, he used his power to stifle dissent whenever it suited his interests, and the result was the dissolving of both Damascus Spring and Damascus declaration. Only one political party is allowed to form the majority of the parliament by law, and opposition parties are prohibited to exist by law. By all reasonable definitions, your beloved Bashar is not only a dictator, but a tyrant who is responsible for the oppression of his people.

JAD, The news about al-Jazeera, I have taken down. It was sent to me by a friend, but does not seem to be true, as Why Discuss points out.

AS for Alawis changing their Facebook profile photos to that of Bashar, I only have anecdotal information.

My wife, who is an Alawiya from Latakia, told me last night that over 20 of her cousins, nieces and nephews have changed their Facebook photos. They all belong to only a few families living in Homs, Latakia and Jable. It is possible that it is only a family and not a sectarian phenomenon, but I bet it is more general as my wife’s family is not known for its devotion to the President and has no close connection to either Qurdaha or families related to the President. My wife’s mother’s family were Jadidists (Followers of Salah Jadid). Several uncles spent time in jail under Hafez and others fled abroad. Their kids have changed their photos.

Regarding your question of what would be our position if bashar proposed a constitutional change.

Anything bashar proposes is refused from the outset before he ends emergency law and releases all prisoners. Once he does this then he is requested to take a plane and leave syria.

He is welcome to come back and be subject to a free justice system that can then evaluate his involvment in he corruption that syria has suffered during his reign. If he exonerated which is highly unlikly then he can propose changes to our constitution.

The syrian people have no desire to have suggestions from a thief whose last constitutional change was to eliminate our republic and turn it into his family property.

Joshua,
Do you think that what is going on in Daraa is going to galvanize the minorities including the Alawat and the Christians around the president and the Baath part push for significant secular laws.
Including abolishing the Sharia laws in civil matters.

Nafdik,
Thank you, It is clear that there is no chance for compromise, you do not want to eat grapes from the vineyard, you want to kill the keeper and possibly his family,It is a survival mode for the Alawat and the other minorities.

Norman, i do want to eat the grapes from MY vinyard and i want the thief who has been squatting there for 40years to leave. I do not care to kill him but i do not want to talk to him as if he became some sort of owner.

Please do not confuse desire for justice with hate for allawite which i definitely do not harbour.

I understand 100%why allawites and christian have developed fear from the syrian people. But this fear is unfounded and the communities and their leaders if any are left should help other syrians in their call for freedom.

If a few brave allawite generals and religious leaders stand up against the assad family they will have the eternal gratitude of the syrian people.

I predict that they will become martyrs, but they would have saved syria and would have paved the way for full reconciliatiin.

Same goes for christian religious leaders, declare your support of human dignity and make your churches sanctuaries, the syrian people will never forget.

Nafdik Said : (( I understand 100%why allawites and christian have developed fear from the syrian people. But this fear is unfounded and the communities and their leaders if any are left should help other syrians in their call for freedom ))

For you info , They are the Syrian people and that what you and the others you call opposition seem to forget,The are the real Syrians and They might forgive you if you declare your loyalty to the unity of Syria instead of being instrumental in destroying her.

There seem to be a whole class of people who like assad, and have confused patriotism with devotion to state, and i am still unable to comprehend this phenomenon but it definitely not allawi only.

I have been seeing the same non-sectarian thing. I am trying to understand the phenomenon, but from what I think it is related to social-status. It is more common to those who are able to enjoy some of the semblances of modernity and believing that it is progress. It is more evident among the children of upper middle class and the higher class. I asked one of them if he knows about the Human Development Index, and the answer was that he did not care for indices developed especially to malign Syria ?#$@#!@@#.

Bare in mind that internet penetration in Syria is still poor compared to other countries and only those who are doing reasonably well can afford a decent line. Despite of the tremendous growth of the number of users, 2010 stats on internet penetration shows Syria in the lower rung of the Eastern Arab States which includes Lebanon (24%), Syria (17%), Palestine (14%), Yemen (1.8%) and Iraq’s abysmal (1.1%) the upper ranks are occupied by Bahrain at 88% is followed by UAE at 75.9%.

This is a great point. I have seen some affluent syrians support Bashar.. My take on this is that this class of people and due to the inflation that took place in the last 10 years have seen the value of these assets ( mostly homes) sky rocket.

Add to this the access to goods which was denied in the past. Private schools also added to the disconnect.

For them life is good. All said, what’s happening today is forcing them to rethink. I have seen less enthusiasm to change their profile pictures to that of Bashar in recent days.

The stupid regime is creating a permanent damage to the good faith some had for Bashar and Asma.

Dear Readers,
I love everyone’s enthusiasm and passion for freedom, watching the last few day’s the news over YouTube, TV, the internet and reading several Blogs, i can’t help but to say, how divided we are, and how far from reality we all are, Daraa is a spark in the eyes of our oppressors, where is the rest of Syria, where are the other minorities, where are the other Cities, do they need special invitations, where are the Kurds, again, why are we so divided.. is everyone asleep…
Wake up everyone, Mama is calling… Tony